


Cornix cornici oculos non effodiet

by belis



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Anxiety, Blind Character, Depression, Disabled Character, Drug Addiction, Gen, Physical Disability
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 01:23:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20106868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belis/pseuds/belis
Summary: I have written this fanfiction as a medical student. I decided to resurrect it as the theme of doctors working with disabilities has been playing on my mind a lot recently.The main theme is House struggling with addiction and mental health issues. Some mention of deliberate self-harm and suicide attempts.





	Cornix cornici oculos non effodiet

House took one Vicodin too many and overdone it with the scotch a bit. Allison has overreacted and there he was in ER waiting for psychiatric evaluation. He has suffered the indignity of having his stomach pumped and patiently accepted the 'just in case' acetylcysteine drip. He knew that everyone was over-reacting and that he was well below the treatment line but the ER resident would not drop the issue of a possibility of a staggered overdose of acetaminophen. It was easier to just get on with it. The psychiatric evaluation was a perfect icing for this unpalatable cake.

When the door opened and a blind woman entered, carefully gaging her way with a white cane, House wondered what was going on. He noticed a hospital ID badge attached to her casual clothes but did not immediately make the connection between her arrival and pending appointment with the on-call psychiatrist.

"I think you got yourself into a wrong room."- House stated politely, wondering if he should press the call buzzer to get a nurse for assistance.

"I am afraid that it is not so. Doctor House?"- The woman was obviously glad to hear him speak as that helped her to orientate herself within the room and she approached the bed much more confidently.

"Yes, but…"- House was now thinking really hard who she was and what did she want. Was it some kind of a joke or was Wilson trying to prove something to him once again?

"Is there a chair in the room? If you can direct me it will save us both a little time"-She interrupted in a rather impatient tone of voice.

"Straight ahead, next to the bed…"- House was observing as the women felt a bit awkwardly the empty space in front of her with an outstretched hand- Stop now. Just ahead of you"

She sat down carefully, folded the white cane and put in her pocket.

"I know the way around my own department but I don't pay visits to ER that often.- She sounded a bit apologetic as if she was ashamed of her awkwardness but her voice reigned confidence within a second- I am doctor Robinsky and I came to do your mental status assessment. Let's just get done and over with it. Hospital procedures are clear, you cannot be realised without this examination. We both know it is pointless, I will ask usual questions and you will give all the right answers. I will get it signed and hopefully, we can avoid admission for the sake of nursing staff upstairs"

"I didn't know my reputation has reached psychiatry department."- House replied tersely. He wondered about Dr Robinsky's bedsite manner. He never thought it possible but she came across but he might just found his match when it comes to abruptness and cynism. 

"You must be joking. We have been drawing straws on who is going to come here to see you and I am pretty sure that other attendings cheated by taking advantage of my disability. Shall we begin? ". 

House watch with interest how Dr Robinsky pulled out what looked like an ordinary pen and paper. Was she really that severely visually impaired? -"How did you make it through med school?"- He wondered out loud.

"I lost my sight when I was already qualified. I have a progressive degenerative condition affecting my eyesight. I was specializing in internal medicine but switched to psychiatry for practical reasons. Are you satisfied? I have clinic upstairs so let's get cracking with it".

She went to the standard list of questions aimed at assessing mental status of self-harming patients following emergency admission and through depression assessment scale.

"For the record you are fine. I am sending you home as I have no formal reason to detain you in here. Off the record, you are depressed, dependent on Vicodin, probably borderline alcoholic as well. My professional advice would be to try and sort that out before you hit rock bottom again. With those doses of Vicodin, you can expect problems with your liver and kidneys soon, but I don't have to tell you that."

"I gave all the right answers so what are you going on about"- House knew that she was at least partially right in what she was saying but there was no way he was admitted to it.

"It is not what you say but what you choose to lie about that matters most to me. If my calculations are correct you would woke up in the morning without any major problems. It was just bad luck you were found so sedated and your friend got concerned. You were not trying to kill yourself. If that was the case we would not be speaking now. "

"You haven't based your calculations on the dose written on my chart, have you?"

"If I thought that you tell truth to the triage nurse about your usual daily use of Vicodin I should be looking for a job in some different field. I had a look at pharmacy records. Taking into account your real daily doses instead of going by tox screen it is clear that it was not an OD attempt. Doctor Wilson will get himself into trouble one day over those prescriptions by the way. I can already see red flags on the horizon. "

"I am in pain. I thought consent is needed for looking into those records".

"Usually but with psychiatric patients detained for the emergency observation that is not longer the case"

"Detained?!"

\- House suddenly felt his heart rate spiking with a feeling of rising panic. He thought that he did a passable job of reassuring her that there is no ongoing suicidal risk.

"Relax, as from now on you are free to go, I have signed all the papers. There is no way I am having you on my ward against your will. You would just run havoc with the nurses. I could prescribe antidepressants but with all that Vicodin in your system, I am reluctant to do so. Would you take them anyway?"

"No"

"That what I thought. We will leave it here. I am going to keep your file in my caseload. You are expected to come for a follow up visit in a weak time. If you decide to do so we can discuss some treatment options."

She stood up, unfolded her cane and started walking towards the door.

"Excuse me, could you point me towards the elevator"

"It's over there. Are you… I am so sorry. I will take you…"


End file.
